Category: Training

Join us at Central Saint Martins for this
interactive workshop. Participants will be encouraged to experiment with sound,
then relate these experiences to teaching practices, strategies and approaches
to learning within a context of teaching information literacy. Themes will be
emergent on the day, but the workshop design encourages exploration of the
following: assumptions about group learning, group dynamics, lived experience
of teaching and learning, session design and digital learning.

Anyone who works with students supporting
information literacy/academic support or has an interest in pedagogy will
benefit from this workshop. Come along and put yourselves in your students
shoes for an afternoon and remember what it feels like to be learning something
brand new, reflect on your own learning habits and how group dynamics can
effect your own experience of learning.

MmIT hosted their annual webinar on what tools and technologies should librarians and information professionals know about in 2019. We smashed all MmIT webinar records with over 230 professionals attending over the course of the 50 minute session.

The webinar panel was chaired by Andy Tattersall who was joined by three experts to look at tools and technologies new and old as well as answer questions for the event which had the hashtag #AskMmIT19

The Panelists were Christina Harbour – Anglia Ruskin University @tinalpool Claire Beecroft – University Teacher at the University of Sheffield @beakybeecroft Luke Burton – Digital Development Manager at Newcastle City Council @biblioluke and Andy Tattersall – Information Specialist at the University of Sheffield @Andy_Tattersall

MmIT Chair Alison McNab @AlisonMcNab has created a Wakelet of the event which you can view here

There is the line that you can never have too much of good thing and these days there are so many good things that librarians and information professionals can employ in their working environment. The great thing is that since we emerged from the world of Web 1.0 to 2.0 that a lot of these newer tools are free and actually quite useful. The flipside is that a lot aren’t that good or just can’t be applied in a library setting, regardless of how hard you try and knock a square peg into a round hole, it won’t go (unless the square peg is smaller of course).

Libraries are no different from any kind of organisation, they have to use formally licensed software for the day to day running of their service. Even though this does not always mean the leanest or most dynamic of packages serving your library, but it does mean you will get a good level of service support and that is essential. The smaller, more niche tools have a part to play in this technology ecosystem – just like the microbes and bugs on Planet Earth – if we remove them the whole system would collapse. The larger technology companies often need the smaller companies to keep the environment from becoming stale and predictable. They also can eat them up from time to time, just like our bugs and other real world creatures. Take for example how – at the time independent company – Mendeley changed reference management dramatically for the better. The smaller technology companies are less likely to get bogged down by bloated platforms run by large companies who focus first on foremost in delivering a stable product for their users. Like I say, the stability of large platforms is essential, the flexibility and dynamic nature of smaller technologies is often where the real action is at.

The last ten years has seen a tremendous growth in new technologies that can be applied in a library setting. The financial cost of these tools, such as Canva, Twitter, Adobe Spark and Eventbrite can be free. Yet with freedom can come a cost as problems can start to float to the surface, although not all of these problems are that worrisome. The old adage ‘If you are not paying for the product – you are the product’ certainly rings true with how some technologies will give you a free ride if you give them your data in return. There are also issues around what do you do when you become hooked into a useful platform, but want more from the premium add ons and the person holding the purse strings says no. How do you know whether the tool you are using will be here tomorrow – remember PageFlakes, Storify, Readability, Google Reader and Silk anyone?

Another question for the typical library or information professional is which tools are best and how can they be applied and which will work on their system – take for example a librarian in an NHS setting. The final and most crucial issue is around the investment of time used to master new tools and that can be problematic depending on the learning curve, but if you know how to use Microsoft Word you’ll probably master most lightweight tools in very little time. The sheer number of tools that can be used in the library sector is overwhelming, regardless of whether you are a public, NHS, business or academic librarian. One tool may solve a host of problems for one librarian but be as useful as a chocolate teapot for another. It is all about application and one of the greatest things to see in technology uptake in the library is how one person can use a tool and then another take that same tool and apply it in a totally unexpected way just as successfully. This is the wonderful thing about these technologies, whether it is Menitmeter for polling, Pocket for curating or Piktochart for posters, you you use it may be totally different from how someone else does.

MmIT Chair Andy Tattersall has previously mentioned his use of Adobe Spark to create short videos in our #AskMmIT webinar. He has now written up his advice – in the latest issue of the MmIT Journal, which was published earlier this month. You can read his article Using Adobe Spark to create short animated information videos in pp3-6 of the Journal.

Why would you want to create short animated information videos? In his article Andy discusses:

the benefits of making animations with Adobe Spark

some misconceptions around the use of video

how to identify topics for videos

practical tips on preparing, recording and editing your video

curating and hosting a set of videos

You can see some of Andy’s video series, created using Adobe Spark, on YouTube:

What tools and technologies should you be using as a librarian or information professional in 2018? Join the CILIP special interest group MmIT as we host our yearly webinar to discuss and shortlist the most relevant tools you can employ as part of your work right now. Webinar Chair Leo Appleton is joined by three fellow members of the Multimedia and Information Technology Committee to look at tools and technologies new and old as well as answer any questions you may have.

Our panelists for the webinar are:Luke Burton – Digital Transformation Manager at Newcastle City Council

Luke Burton completed his MA in Library and Information Management in 2008 and became a Library and Information Officer with Newcastle Libraries in 2010 as part of their Information and Digital team. He became manager of the Business & IP Centre Newcastle in 2013 and was responsible for co-ordinating and contributing to intellectual property support, business information and business support to small businesses in the North-East. In late 2014 Luke became the Digital Transformation Manager for the Community Hubs, Libraries and Parks within Newcastle City Council where he leads on transformation, development and implementation of digital services within libraries and customer services. In April 2017 he was appointed as the Digital Delivery Manager for the Community Hubs, Libraries and Parks within Newcastle City Council. Luke is particularly interested in copyright, open data, new technologies and culture change within organisations.

Luke tweets as @biblioluke

Virginia Power – Graduate Tutor/PhD researcher at the University of the West of England

Virginia Power is Graduate Tutor/PhD researcher at the University of the West of England. Virginia has over 40 years’ library and information services management experience within educational and cultural heritage sectors. She lectures in Information Management and Science and is also a PhD student in the field of social knowledge management and digital resource curation. Virginia’s particular interest is in technology for learning and open education, specifically the use and re-use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and her PhD is focused on researching the role and impact of social knowledge and narrative in the use and re-use of OER. Virginia specialises in the development of staff digital skills within cultural heritage and corporate knowledge settings. She is also co-editor of eBooks in Libraries: a practical guide published by Facet Publishing.

Virginia tweets as @PowerVirg

Andy Tattersall – Information Specialist at The School of Health and Related Research at The University of Sheffield

Andy Tattersall is an Information Specialist at The School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) and writes, teaches and gives talks about digital academia, technology, scholarly communications, open research, web and information science, apps altmetrics and social media. In particular, their application for research, teaching, learning, knowledge management and collaboration. Andy received a Senate Award from The University of Sheffield’ for his pioneering work on MOOCs in 2013 and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Andy is also Chair of the CILIP MmIT Committee. He has edited a book on Altmetrics for Facet Publishing which is aimed at researchers and librarians. Andy was named in the Jisc Top Ten Social Media Superstars for 2017.

Alison McNab is an Academic Librarian at the University of Huddersfield whose current focus is on supporting researchers at all stages of the research cycle. She has regularly pioneered the implementation of new technologies and resources, with a focus on their use to enhance service development and delivery, and for much of her career had a specialist focus on the marketing and exploitation of e-content. Her professional interests include accessibility and assistive technologies, current awareness and trend-watching, e-content, information literacy, mobile learning, scholarly communication, and the use of social media by libraries. She has contributed to the wider profession by writing, editing, speaking, and through membership of the management committees of MmIT, UKeiG and the UKSG.

The session takes place in an Adobe Connect webinar – headphones and a microphone are advisable, but the microphone is not essential. You can also join using a tablet or smartphone with the Adobe Connect mobile app.

We look forward to meeting you online soon! If you have trouble joining and the guidance below doesn’t help contact us at scharr-tel@sheffield.ac.uk

Cilip’s Multimedia, Information and Technology Group (MmIT) and the Publicity and Public Relations Group (PPRG) are pleased to be offer a joint summer workshop on creative ways to promote your library and information service. The hands on workshop will be facilitated by Julie Chandler (PPRG) and Andy Tattersall (MmIT).

From creating your own content to empowering others to do so, this workshop aims to teach attendees core skills that will help them deliver a more sustainable, outreaching service. We will also explore platform choice, Creative Commons licences and how you develop a sustainable way to promote your service.

Following on from our very successful half day event at Newcastle in March and our Webinar in May, we are delivering yet another workshop for MmIT members and non-members.

Digital capabilities are more important than ever within the library and information community and the people they support. Digital capability is essential for all wanting to flourish in modern society and library and information professionals can support this. The half day workshop will explore how library and information professionals can help shape and support these capabilities for the individual, organisation and community. The purpose of the three talks is not only to help professionals provide a better service befitting the 21st Century but also improve their own digital capability skill sets and show value to their organisation.

12.40 – 13.30: Seek Sense and Share: The Information & Knowledge Manager as Change Agent – Virginia Power, University of the West of England.

Information & Knowledge Managers in a library & information service often have responsibility for seeking new opportunities to create a knowledge sharing environment and drive the use of collaborative social media tools to enable broader capture and sharing and promote innovation. They are often key players in the introduction of systems, approaches and processes which capture the intellectual capital of the organization and seek out continuous improvement opportunities. In this lively session we will unpick the role of the Information & Knowledge Manager to discover our digital capabilities using top KM tools and techniques in support of the quest to be a true Change Agent. Come and be prepared to interact!

13.30 – 13.50: Break/ networking (tea, coffee & biscuits)

13.50 – 14.40: A digital research cycle for the 21st Century and how to support it – Andy Tattersall – Information Specialist, University of Sheffield.

The research cycle is changing dramatically and there are countless new technologies and platforms that academics can use to support their research process. From making their work open and reusable to its wider dissemination, there are a lot of opportunities to shake up the scientific system. For many academics their digital capabilities are not developed to a level to fully engage with these new ways of working. Library and information professionals are embedded in all aspects of this cycle and there are opportunities to be found with the latest developments afforded by technology. The purpose of the talk will be to explore the new research cycle along with opportunities to support it and up-skill the digital academic. In addition show some of the tools and technologies that will ensure academics come to you first when they need help.

David has been involved with the New Media Consortium (NMC) Higher Education Horizon report since 2009 as well as an expert panel member of the more recent NMC Library Horizon Report. The work is an ongoing research project designed to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have an impact on learning, teaching, and creative inquiry in education. Every year the Horizon Report identifies six key trends, six significant challenges, and six important developments in educational technology tied to essential questions of relevance or policy, leadership, and practice. The three sections of this report constitute a reference and technology-planning guide for educators, higher education leaders, administrators, policymakers, and technologists. The report discusses the importance of ‘digital fluency’ and how to manage ‘knowledge obsolescence’. David will explore these themes, the implications for libraries and provide an insider guide to the creation of the work.